Dr. Lelve G. Gayle was recently appointed executive director of the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

Gayle's appointment is effective Feb. 1. He will succeed Dr. Konrad Eugster, who is retiring after serving as the agency's executive director for 21 years.

Gayle has been the TVMDL's associate agency director and head of diagnostic services — a position he has held since 1988. He earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree in 1964 and master's of science degree in veterinary toxicology in 1980, both from Texas A&M University.

TVMDL receives more than 160,000 requests per year from Texas animal industries for assistance in diagnosing animal diseases and has been recognized by the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

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Montana sheep producer Joe Helle, along with his Border collie, Pirate, is featured in the January 2002 National Geographic magazine.

The caption notes that Helle "depends on Border collie Pirate to help move his sheep." Helle's picture sharply contrasts that of Tiffy on page 16. Tiffy is a Maltese that leads a visibly plush life on Manhattan's Upper East Side. (Sidenote: Two of Tiffy's favorite foods are lamb and jam.)

Roddy MacDiarmid, a lifelong shepherd in the Scottish Highlands, also merited a mention and made clear the necessary working relationship between shepherds and dogs.

The dogs are featured along with many others in a 28-page article titled, "Wolf to Woof: The Evolution of Dogs."

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A new report released by the Cuba Policy Foundation says the U.S. embargo against Cuba is costing U.S. farmers up to $1.24 billion annually. Even more, they peg agriculture-related costs to the entire U.S. economy at up to $3.6 billion more annually.

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An alleged medical organization, the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine, has been linked to extremist animal rights groups tied to acts of violence and vandalism, according to the Washington, DC-based Center for Consumer Freedom.

The group's profile of the PCRM reveals that the group's president, Dr. Neal Barnard, recently engineered a letter-writing campaign with Kevin Jonas of the extremist animal rights group known as SHAC. Jonas used to be known as Kevin Kjonaas, back when he was a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front, a militant group that has been labeled as terrorists by the FBI.

SHAC activists have been accused of firebombing automobiles, smashing windows, assaulting research center employees and targeting individual investors for round-the-clock harassment and intimidation.

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Antonio Todde, an Italian shepherd recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest man, was found dead on January 4th, shortly before his 113th birthday. Born Jan. 22, 1889, Todde was a shepherd all his life.

He attributed his longevity to a daily glass of red wine. Todde was quoted on the Guinness website as saying it was important to "just love your brother and drink a good glass of red wine every day."

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United Poultry Concerns — which claims to promote the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl — is upset over a current Carl's Jr. television ad campaign that they find offensive. What's more, the group is demanding the ad be pulled.

UPC President Karen Davis reportedly called Larry Brayman, the director of corporate affairs for CKE Restaurants, which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardee's franchises, to inquire whether the "nuggets" ad will be removed. UPC claims that its membership, as well as other animal advocacy groups, and many California and non-California residents, have requested the ad be yanked.

The news release describes the problem as "men poking around the body of a live chicken, looking for the bird's nuggets."

The humor of it all is that there is no such thing as a chicken "nugget."

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Dr. Ed Huston, range animal nutritionist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in San Angelo, has retired after 39 years of service. Most of his career has been dedicated to the sheep and goat industries.

Huston plans to stay active in the industry even in retirement, but most of his free time will be spent with his family and church activities.

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USDA Administrative Law Judge Jill Clifton has denied Montana cattleman Wallace McRae's request for a stay in scheduling an administrative hearing against him for nonpayment of the beef checkoff.

McRae filed for the stay in November 2001, asking that his hearing not be scheduled until other cases challenging the constitutionality of the beef checkoff program were decided, as McRae raises similar questions in his defense. But the administrative judge denied that request in a ruling issued Jan. 24, noting that she will review the case and issue the ruling within her jurisdiction, after which McRae can address any other issues of law through the court system, if need be.

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Secretary Ann Veneman recently announced that President Bush would include $131 million in new spending to protect the nation's food supply from animal and plant pests and diseases and strengthen food safety programs and support specific research activities.

Of that total, $49 million is allocated for animal health monitoring to enhance the ability to quickly identify potential threats. These additional resources will be used to improve the emergency management system that coordinates and implements rapid response to an animal or plant pest or disease outbreak.

Another $19 million will be used in the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program for improved point-of-entry inspection programs by providing additional inspectors, expanding canine teams and state of the art high definition X-ray machines at high-risk ports of entry. This additional increase in FY 2003 will bring staffing at ports of entry to 3974, a 55 percent increase in three years.

APHIS will receive $11 million to expand their diagnostic, response and management programs and other technical services.

A $28 million increase will support FSIS food safety activities, including maintaining approximately 7600 meat, poultry and egg products inspectors. Of that total, $14.5 million will go to improve the information technology infrastructure to improve risk management systems, and $2.7 million for slaughter epidemiological surveys and risk prevention activities.

Finally, $24 million will be used to support research aimed at protecting the nation's agriculture and food system from attack by animal and plant diseases, insects and other pests and to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness in humans due to pathogens and other threats to the food supply. These increases will emphasize development of improved detection, identification, diagnostic and vaccination methods to identify and control threats to animal and plant agriculture.

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The 2002 Ag Outlook and Marketing Strategies Conference is set for Feb. 12 in Amarillo at the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The meeting will showcase what's ahead with pricing, markets and pending farm bill legislation, among other issues.

The conference is part of the nationally recognized Master Marketer program, which helps producers learn how to market their farm commodities more effectively. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the program starts at 9 a.m.

A $50 per person fee includes materials and lunch. Participants my pay at the door, but lunch or materials cannot be guaranteed without an advance registration.

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World champion saddle bronc rider Tom Reeves will not only represent the United States at the Olympic Command Performance Rodeo, he will be the U.S. team captain.

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A new study, the Wal-Mart Supercenter Customer Loyalty Study, addressing how regional independents can compete with Wal-Mart Supercenters, is being unveiled at the National Grocers Association annual convention on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas.

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Members of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association will gather in Fort Worth March 16-20 to address the issues that impact their way of life and celebrate the 125th anniversary of the organization formed to protect it.

On Sunday legendary Texas ranchers will share their stories during Wisdom of Experience sessions during the convention's trade show.

Leaders from government and industry have been invited to this year's convention to share their insights on issues concerning beef producers. They include Gov. Rick Perry at the Kickoff luncheon, Sen. Phil Gramm, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Susan Combs and Philip M. Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, at the board of directors meeting and Pete Laney, speaker of the Texas House of Representatives at the PAC breakfast.

During the first general session, newly elected NCBA president Wythe Willey will talk about the future of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association; meteorologist Bob Rose will present an extended weather forecast; Brad Barnes, president of TSCR Foundation, will report on activities of the Cattle Raisers Museum; and TSCRA President John Dudley will report on TSCRA activities.

The second general session will feature special presentations and the business meeting. Beth McNutt will report on activities of the Texas CattleWomen, and TSCRA executive vice president Matt Brockman will give his annual report.

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The call is going out for enlistment into 2002's "Texas Brigades," a group of wildlife-oriented youth camps aimed at cadets 13 to 17 years old. The camps use bobwhite quail, white-tailed deer and wild turkey as vehicles to equip young people with communications skills and leadership development in an outdoor setting.

The two Buckskin Brigades dates and locations are: South Texas, 3rd battalion, La Pryor, June 2-6; and North Texas, 1st Battalion, Lueders, July 21-25. Dates and locations for the two Bobwhite Brigades are: Rolling Plains, 10th Battalion, Lueders, June 22-26; and South Texas, 5th Battalion, Campbellton, July 14-18. The East Texas "Feather Forces" Brigade, 6th Battalion, July 28-August 1 at Broadus, centers on quail and turkey.

The camps' sponsors include Texas Cooperative Extension, the Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Quail Unlimited, local soil and water conservation districts, private businesses and landowners.

Tuition for all camps is $200 per cadet. Organizers are willing to help cadets find scholarships for at least half of the tuition. Applications are available in PDF format at http://texnat.tamu.edu or www.texasbrigades.org. Applications are due by April 15 and should be sent to Helen Holdsworth, 3355 Cherry Ridge, Suite 212, San Antonio, TX 78230.

More information is available from Dr. Dale Rollins at (915) 653-4576 or via e-mail him at d-rollins@tamu.edu, or by contacting Helen Holdsworth, San Antonio-based Texas Brigades executive director at (210)467-6578 or via e-mail at h-holdsworth@tamu.edu.

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The Associated Press reports that British cattle markets closed by last year's outbreak of hoof and mouth disease will reopen next week under strict cleanliness standards. Those markets not meeting the standards will be closed again.

Cattle markets were shut and livestock movements severely restricted after the disease was detected in February 2001. Some markets since have resumed limited trading.

There have been no new cases of the airborne disease since Sept. 30, and the World Organization for Animal Health declared Jan. 23 that Britain was free of the disease.

The outbreak of hoof and mouth disease affected more than 2000 British farms. More than four million animals, including 3.3 million sheep, were slaughtered to curb the epidemic.

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Excel Corporation has teamed up with eMerge Interactive to integrate eMerge's VerifEYE™ meat inspection system into Excel's beef operations to finalize specifications for commercialization.

VerifEYE ™ is the first tool of its kind to identify the presence of trace levels of organic contamination at the commercial level. It is a real-time electronically controlled optical instrument that provides workers with a detailed roadmap of contaminated areas that must be removed from freshly harvested carcasses.

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The safety, integrity, viability and sustainability of the food supply in the United States is the focus of the Food and Agricultural Biosecurity Summit on May 6-7 at the Austin Hilton North in Austin.

The summit will bring together federal and state legislators, university scientists and educators, agency representatives and other key leaders in the food and agricultural industries in Texas to respond to these threats.

Speakers will provide an overall perspective of existing regulations, responsibilities and plans to enhance the preparedness of Texas agriculture to meet potential threats.

Additional information is available on the summit website at http://agsummit.tamu.edu/ or by contacting Cady Auckerman at (979) 862-1771.

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The 2002 Sheep Industry Leadership school sponsored by the National Lamb Feeders Assn. is set for July 21-24 in Greeley, Colorado.

Applicants must be 20 years of age or older. Once accepted, participants are responsible for a $100 registration fee plus the cost of transportation to and from Greeley. NLFA provides meals, lodging and supplies. Class size is limited to 25 students.

Coordinator for this year's program is Dr. Steve LeValley, Extension sheep and wool specialist in the Department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University.

Applications are due by June 1. More information and applications are available from the NLFA administrative office at (503) 370-7024 or via e-mail at info@nlfa-sheep.org.

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The U.S. International Trade Commission is initiating an investigation into the effectiveness of the relief action imposed by former President Clinton on imports of fresh, chilled and frozen lamb meat which terminated on November 15, according to a notice included in the January 29 Federal Register.

In response to a petition from the domestic lamb industry, Clinton imposed the relief action on July 7, 1999, in the form of a tariff-rate quota which was intended to constrain rapidly rising imports of lamb. The TRQ was scheduled to continue for three years and one day. However, it was lifted November 15 after determinations that the U.S. action violated international trade rules. U.S. law requires that the USITC, following the termination of a relief action, evaluate the effectiveness of the action in facilitating positive adjustment by the domestic industry to import competition. The commission must submit its report to the President and the Congress by mid-May.